Joe Sousa, Former Women’s Cross Country and Track and Field Coach, Passes Away

Jun 10, 2011

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Joe Sousa, former head
coach of MIT's women's cross country and outdoor track and field
teams, passed away on June 8 after a valiant battle with pancreatic
cancer. He began his seven-year tenure at MIT in 1991 with the
cross country program and led the outdoor track and field team in
its inaugural varsity season the following spring.

The 1995 New England Women's 8 Conference (NEW 8) Cross Country
Coach of the Year, Sousa led the Engineers to three consecutive
runner-up finishes at the conference championship meet. His
athletes recorded a trio of NEW 8 individual champion titles and
Runner of the Year honors in addition to 11 All-Conference
selections and two Rookie of the Year awards.

Sousa guided the Cardinal and Gray to then-Institute best
11th-place finishes at the 1994 and 1995 NCAA New England Division
III Regional Championship, while seven athletes collected All-New
England accolades. He also produced the program's first NCAA
Championship individual qualifier and All-America recipient in
Janis Eisenberg.

Under Sousa's tutelage, the outdoor track and field program
posted a pair of third-place finishes at the NEW 8 Championship and
registered 10 event victories. MIT totaled seven top-five
individual performances at the New England Division III
Championship, including five runners-up. At the All-New England
Championship in 1998, Lila French captured second place in the pole
vault, one year after becoming the first MIT woman to compete in
the event. As a testament to his development of the program,
several of the records set during his career continue to be among
the top-10 performances in Institute history.

"What Joe brought to his athletes was a genuine concern about
the person he was coaching, not just the product on the track or in
the field," said Halston Taylor, MIT's current Director of Cross
Country and Track and Field. "Joe wanted his athletes to love life
and the sport of track and field. Those who he coached were touched
in a very special way and will remember him always for what he
brought to their lives as student-athletes. Joe was a great
colleague and a true friend."

A wake will be held on Tuesday, June 14 at the Brown and Hickey
Funeral Home (36 Trapelo Road, Belmont, Mass.) from 4:00-8:00 p.m.,
with the funeral service occurring the next day at St. Anthony's
Church (400 Cardinal Medeiros Avenue, Cambridge, Mass.) at 9:00
a.m.